New photography gallery set to open at V&A

Images by British photography pioneers Roger Fenton and Julia Margaret Cameron will be among work on show at a new, permanent, gallery due to open at the V&A in the autumn.rnrnPicture: Circe c.1865, by Julia Margaret Cameron (Credit: V&A Images)

Images by British photography pioneers Roger Fenton and Julia Margaret Cameron will be among work on show at a new, permanent, gallery due to open at the V&A in the autumn.

The move ? which significantly extends the museum?s dedicated photography space ? will chronicle the history of the medium from its invention in 1839 until the 1960s.

The Photographs Gallery is due to open on 25 October.

The V&A?s collection includes a daguerreotype from 1839 (the museum?s earliest photo, showing Parliament Street in London), a seascape by Gustave Le Gray, plus work by legends Man Ray, Alfred Stieglitz and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Cartier-Bresson?s work will feature alongside images by Julia Margaret Cameron, in two ?In Focus? areas of the gallery, designed to give visitors an ?in-depth? look at the photographers? work.

The V&A says contemporary work will be featured, mainly, in temporary displays within the museum?s existing gallery.

Entry to the Photographs Gallery ? which was previously a study area ? will be free, said a museum spokeswoman.